My husband is a school cleaner in a local 'academy' high school. He gets there at 3-30pm,and has several classrooms to clean, plus toilets and corridors. You'd hardly believe the number of times he's found a teacher sitting crying at their desk. He cleans the 'Art Suite' and the female teacher there has been actually sobbing more than once, mainly about the rudeness and cheekiness of the pupils. Saying 'fuck off' is an everyday occurrence. The classrooms are strewn with all sorts, gum, food, sweet wrappings. And the toilets are unspeakable. He reckons the 'pupils' are just bloody animals. I took early retirement from Primary teaching due to the totally ridiculous amount of paperwork, admin and 'accountability' stuff. We were drowning in A4 sheets. We had an Ofsted inspection, during which a very young inspector chap tried to suggest ways I should be teaching reading. I had already served 30 years, and I reckon there wasn't much I didn't know about that! My pupils usually gained 2 years of a reading age in the one year I had them. I never had discipline problems, but nowadays things are worse. There are pressures from all directions; the parents, the Head, Ofsted, and the young brats that pass for children these days. Both my nieces have just finished their degrees and started in banking, with really excellent salaries, far more than new teachers will receive. If I were a young teacher starting today, I'd be off like a shot abroad.
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